City Icons: Amsterdam - Final Call!

An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture

MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters

Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon

Modernism Week Lecture: 10 Years of Iconic Houses

Aluminaire House Grand Opening

Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde

Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

Winy Wants a World Wonder

Welcome Atelier Volten!

Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague

Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta

Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons

Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses

7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success

Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá

Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska

Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof

17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum

Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!

Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop

Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin

Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen

'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House

Rietveld Houses Owners Association

Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House

Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97

Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand

Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House

Welcome Umbrella House!

Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip

Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave

Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami

Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House

Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved

Serralves Villa after restoration

Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione

Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe

Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building

Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle

BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time

New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform

Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina

A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo

Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman

Winy Maas on the Green Dip

Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s

Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois

The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer

Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism

Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage

Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces

July is Iconic Houses Month

Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk

Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!

How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event

Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House

13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage

Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!

Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970

Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments

Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design

ICONS AT RISK

Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck

Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'

A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism

New Centre for Historic Houses of India

An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House

Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands

A Mendini temple in Amsterdam

IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House

Sponsors and Friends

An Afternoon with the Glucks

Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable

Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK

Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon

Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors

Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois

Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership

Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar

Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering

Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra

Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project

We welcome 13 new members!

BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!

LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic Reads

Our Badge of Honour

Iconic Houses End Year Message

City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?

Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress

Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk

Renovation Gili House in Crisis

An Iconic Saga

Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies

Modernism on the East Coast

Iconic Houses in Latin America

Conference testimonials

House Tours May 2018 

Expert Meetings

Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter

Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson

New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne

Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House

John Arbuckle on Great House Tours

William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan

Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson

Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House

Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation

Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)

Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina

Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán

Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro

Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation

Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships

John Bacon on Planned Giving

Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America

Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More

Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times

Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation

Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod

Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses

Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018

Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company

Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio

Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association

Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale

Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico

De Stijl in Drachten

Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio

Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru

Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil

Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition

Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary

Meet Our New Foundation Board Members

Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation

Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D

Getty Grant for Villa E-1027

Plečnik House in Ljubljana

Iconic Dacha

Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip

Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

At home with Le Corbusier

Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored

Lynda Waggoner reports

A Conference to Remember

4th International Iconic Houses Conference

Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner

Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour

Wright Plus 2016 Walk

Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute

John Mcllwee, Garcia House

Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup

Iconic Houses: The Story So Far

Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses

Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor

Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes

Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

Sidney Williams, Frey House

Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

Meet the Friends - James Haefner

Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke

Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House

Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office

Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House

Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library

Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Ted Bosley, Gamble House

Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants

Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer

Wim de Wit, Stanford University

Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

Work in Progress: Casa Vicens

Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House

Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois

Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House

Conference calls!

Follow us!

Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success

Conference House Tours Barcelona

Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation

Special speaker Oscar Tusquets

Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’

Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation

Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner

Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda

Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)

Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain

Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc

Conference Program 25 November 2014

Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó

Documentary La Ricarda

Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera

Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera

Henry Urbach, The Glass House

Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12

Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum

Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat

Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater

Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center

Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld

Barragán House on Screen

Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open

September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments

Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook

Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse

New arrivals: Spain special

MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June

Taut's Home wins Europa Nostra Award

Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

Message from the Editor

Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

Melnikov House on Screen

Iconic Houses in the media

Message from the Editor

Round Table Review

Eileen Gray House on Screen

Copy Culture

At Home in the 20th Century

New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches

Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux

January 2016

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

Shake it up at the Sheats-Goldstein House!


January 2016 - LA means Hollywood – and no residential architect has inspired the moviemakers quite like John Lautner. We host our conference cocktail party at the stunningly photogenic Sheats-Goldstein House, which famously featured in The Big Lebowski (other Lautner houses with starring roles include the Schaffer House in A Single Man, the Chemosphere House in Body Double, and the Elrod House in Diamonds are Forever).

Our cocktail party takes place in Club James, the property’s new private nightclub, built by inimitable owner James Goldstein. He bought the residence in 1972 and spent two decades working with Lautner to transform the former Sheats family home into the fabulous bachelor pad it is today. The private club occupies a spectacular new concrete-and-glass structure, with overtones of a Bond villain’s lair, which was designed with former Lautner employee Duncan Nicholson.

We’re thrilled to be among Club James’ earliest visitors, and to have James Goldstein himself joining us there. A separate afternoon visit to the Sheats-Goldstein House, meanwhile, will allow us to enjoy Lautner’s classic in full daylight. The visit plus cocktail party add up a rare opportunity to experience the triangular house, its jaw-dropping views, and the cool Californian lifestyle of its legendary owner in all their glory – more good reasons to register for our conference, if you haven’t already done so. Don’t forget: registration closes February 1st.

Take a look at the building of Club James >
Read more about John Lautner >
Find out more about James Goldstein >

Guest of Honor


January 2016 - Joining us as Guest of Honor is legendary architect, inventor and environmentalist Harry Gesner (1925), who designed the Cahuenga Pass Boat Houses in LA (1959) and some of Malibu’s most awe-inspiring architecture. His distinctive designs include the Cooper Wave House (1957), Raven’s Eye (1993) and, of course, the architect’s own abode, the Sand Castle (1960) found tucked along the Pacific Coast Highway.

If there ever was an architect equivalent to the International Man of Mystery, James Bond, it’s Harry Gesner. In fact, the lauded architect’s life story reads like a script for the dashing, playboy spy: ‘the movie-star- handsome Mr. Gesner surfs and water-skis like a pro; he survived Normandy, though he nearly lost both legs; he audited architecture classes at Yale, turning down a chance to study with Frank Lloyd Wright, who admired his drawings; he tussled with leading men, like Marlon Brando and Errol Flynn, and fell in love with leading ladies, like a young June Lockhart’ and married the famous Broadway star Nan Martin.

Harry’s latest invention, The Autonomous Tent, is an exciting new form of architecture which has been engineered as a permanent structure, yet can be raised in just a few days and ‘leave without a trace’ (www.autonomoustent.com). The first monograph dedicated to Gesner and his thoroughly heterodox 60-year oeuvre, Houses of the Sundown Sea, was published in 2012.

Find out more about Harry Gesner's famous Cahuenga Pass Boathouses
Find out more about The Wave House
Find out more about his own home, the Sandcastle in West Malibu

Decisions, decisions…

December 2015 - Since we began our early bird registration for February’s Iconic Houses Conference, we’ve heard from some of our member houses that you’re having trouble deciding between the two options in the Wednesday program: the house tours or the expert sessions on fundraising and conservation management. If you’re also struggling with this decision, hopefully this post will help you make up your mind!

Please remember that we have organised the house tours so that all those planned for Wednesday (the Gamble House, Hollyhock House, Schindler House and Neutra’s VDL Studio and Residences) can also be done independently before or after the conference, since they are all more or less ‘regular’ house museums (unlike those we visit on Thursday and Friday, which are mostly private houses that you would not otherwise get to see).

If you would like to do some or all of the Wednesday tours by yourself, so as not to miss out on the expert sessions, you can easily rent a car. But do allow plenty of time or consider limiting your choice to two or three houses, since the LA traffic often makes journeys slow. Alternatively, just save these particular houses for another visit – it’s always great to have an excuse to come back to LA!

Iconic Houses founder Natascha Drabbe announces the start of early-bird registration for the next conference in February

November 2015 - With 2016 not so very far away, online registration started 19 November for our fourth Iconic Houses Conference in Los Angeles – and there’s a lot to look forward to. There will be more tours, more speakers, and more fun stuff than ever before, plus we have the perfect location – the Getty Center in LA – and the wonderful support of our hosts the Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Foundation, which has also brought us an enthusiastic conference partner in Susan Macdonald. You can ‘meet’ Susan in the Five Questions. We are also fortunate to have teamed up with our local conference organiser, Pasadena Heritage. You can find the full program HERE

You can register HERE.

Location, location, location
The theme for the conference is A California State of Mind: The Modern House Museum in Southern California. Since LA is the spiritual home of the modern house, there will naturally be some extraordinary and inspirational houses to visit (some of them not normally open to the public), both during the optional pre- and post-conference tours and as part of the regular program. The story of the Mid-Century Modern movement will be told in one day with tours of the Gamble, Hollyhock, Schindler and Neutra houses, and there will be opportunities to see landmark homes like the Eames House, the Sheats-Goldstein Residence and several more. We are also thrilled to be holding our closing cocktail party at the legendary Goldstein Residence, designed by John Lautner in 1963, in Club James, the house’s newest addition, with spectacular views of the City of Angels.

Organising the house visits for the 150 conference attendees (plus guides) was a huge challenge. As residential homes, none of the sites is easily accessible for large groups and buses. Luckily, we have had the help of a highly professional tour organiser and we think all the challenges of arranging the visits have been well worth the effort. Of course, the tours are an intrinsic part of the event for us, balancing our mornings of talks and lectures with active afternoons, enjoying and learning from other museum houses. The tours are also an opportunity to meet fellow attendees – although we have plenty of other occasions lined up, from our welcome reception and closing cocktail parties to the long breaks that we factor in so that you too can do some of the talking!

With our speakers, we’ve tried to ensure that all the key stakeholders – curators, owners, architects and residents – are represented for a variety of perspectives and opinions. We have included some highly original viewpoints – keynote speaker architect Toshiko Mori, for example, has had the unique experience of working on three Modernist classics – completing the visitor centre for the Darwin D. Martin House by Frank Lloyd Wright, plus extensions for two homes by Marcel Breuer and Paul Rudolph. How she coped with their greatness is topic of her talk, ‘Frank, Paul, Marcel and Me.’

Another idiosyncratic vision comes from the author of the Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums, Franklin D. Vagnone. Taking a critical point of view, he exhorts us to prevent our house museums from dwindling into dull mausoleums and presents ideas on how to make them fresher, more exciting, and more connected with the local community. House curators and directors share their experiences. The East Coast is represented as well as California – we hear about three Cape Cod museum houses that are rented out as holiday homes, an interesting business model. Naturally, we are also responding to Iconic Houses members’ greatest concerns, with two expert sessions devoted to those hot topics, fundraising and conservation plans.

With so much on offer, we expect that our 150 tickets will sell out soon, so to guarantee your place, why not take advantage of our early-bird registration?
On behalf of the conference team, I look forward to seeing you in LA.

Natascha Drabbe
Founder Iconic Houses network